I Will Never Be the Same
by Lizzy3
Summary: Snape finds out that his little sister, Merriam, had died along with this brother-in-law. Snape is left with his niece and nephew. We also find out why Snape hates Sirius.


Disclaimer- All characters except Merriam, Mary, Egan, and Thomas Sullivan and James MacKenna belong to JK Rowling and the song belongs to Vanessa Carlton.  
  
~I was stained in a day not my own but as you walked into my life you showed what needed to be shown~  
  
Severus Snape sat at his desk. It was summer and he was in between missions. He was trying to find a way into the Riddle house. He knew that's where most of the questioning was going on. If he could just get in there he could find out their battle plan. He just had to get in there. It couldn't be impenetrable could it?  
  
He was jerked out of his thoughts by a white owl; it flew in and dropped a letter before finding a perch amongst the potion bottles. He unrolled the parchment and read the letter. After a minute of reading he dropped the letter and cradled his head in his hands. He got up and grabbed his cloak off the hook. Tears were falling down his face as he headed to Dumbledore's office.  
  
He whispered the password and knocked on the door. Dumbledore opened it and stood aside quickly, seeing the look on Snape's face. Sirius was in the office. He looked up from some maps he had been reading. He'd never seen Severus loose it. He was always cool and collected.  
  
"What happened Severus," Dumbledore asked worriedly.  
  
"It's Merriam, she's- she's," He stopped and burst into tears. His beloved sister! How could this happen. "She's dead," he spit out as if the words were venom. Sirius jumped up from his seat.  
  
"You can't be serious! Not Merriam, oh God not Merriam," Sirius had been in love with Merriam Snape for as long as he could remember.  
  
"Shut it Black. She wasn't yours. You were never supposed to even think about her again," Snape hissed. He had never like Black, not one little bit. But it wasn't enough, Sirius just had to ruin his life even further by falling in love with his baby sister. He just had to be the one his little sister fell for in turn.  
  
"Sh, both of you. What's become of Mary and Egan? Did they get killed as well?" Dumebledore asked quickly.  
  
"No, the Child Protection Department owled me. They're there right now. I'm supposed to go down there and get them. That's why I came up here. I need to keep then here when I go on missions. In fact, I'd like them to stay here all the time. No telling how safe they are even at the Ministry," Snape said, a look of resolution on his face.  
  
"Of course, go get them. I agree with you, they are in danger even there," Dumbledore said.  
  
Severus got up and left towards Hogsmeade where he could Aparate or take the train. He stopped at the ticked booth and got 3 tickets for the return trip. He popped out and reappeared in Diagon Alley. He started to the Ministry building. Once at the door he stated his name and reason for being there. A young witch showed him to the room where Egan and Mary were. He stepped in and saw his niece and nephew sitting at a table. Egan was 7 and Mary was only 5.  
  
"Professor Snape, I suppose you are here to get Egan and Mary Sullivan? Well, just fill out some papers and you'll be on your way," a young man named James MacKenna, who had been one of Snape's students, said. Snape sat down and filled out some papers. His heart was still aching from the loss of his sister. She had been everything to him, more then life itself.  
  
When he was done he got up and gave it to James. "I'll get the children for you Professor. I suppose you'll take them to Hogwarts?" he asked as an afterthought.  
  
"Yes, I put it on the form. I feel that they'll be safest there," he answered. When Mary and Egan saw their uncle they ran at him. They hadn't seen a familiar face in days and they had just now cottoned on the fact that they would never see their parents again. "I'm so glad you're alright," Snape said, his heart melting as he was suffocated by their hugs. He didn't show compassion very often but towards his niece and nephew there was only love.  
  
"We're glad to see you too. We thought we'd never see anyone we knew again. We thought you'd died just like mum and dad," Egan cried softly.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll be okay, I'll take care of you," Snape said, a tear falling down his face. He'd loved his brother-in-law, Thomas Sullivan almost as much as he'd loved his sister. She had fallen in love with Sirius Black but she had stayed in love with her husband Thomas.  
  
"I was so scared when those mean men in hoods came to our house. Mum and Dad pushed us out of the house and made us run into the woods. When we were found they told us that mummy and daddy were dead," Mary cried.  
  
"Come now, we have to be getting to Hogwarts. You can see Professor Dumbledore and play with Hagrid and you'll have a lot of fun," Snape said, taking Egan's hand and picking Mary up. They walked to The Leaky Cauldron and Flooed to Platform 9 ¾ where they caught the train. Mary and Egan both fell asleep leaving Snape alone with his thoughts.  
  
~And I always knew what was right, just didn't know that I might, peel away and choose to see with such a different side~  
  
He was fighting for his niece and nephew now. He had lost his little sister but wasn't about to loose them. He would fight to the death to preserve the lives of those dear children. They had straightened out his life, given him a reason for living. They were all he had.  
  
Upon reaching Hogwarts they ate dinner in the Great Hall. Mary and Egan were both amazed at everything that had to do with Hogwarts. Hagrid showed them around the grounds after dinner, they even got to pet a baby unicorn Hagrid was raising. Madam Hooch let them play with the broomsticks. Egan flew around happily while Mary started crying that it was too high. They both fell asleep on top of the Sundays that Dobby had fixed them. Snape tucked them into bed, smiling at how innocent they where.  
  
A/N- I know that this is short but I just want some input. How do you like it? I always thought that Sirius must have done something really terrible to Snape, so this is just a theory. R&R! 


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